At Core Elevate Health, we offer a unique, effective and safe way to improve and strengthen your core and postural muscles, while enhancing breathing, pelvic floor stability, flexibility and mobility. We utilize the Low Pressure Fitness system. LPF is a comprehensive movement system that targets the core and pelvic floor muscles (coordinating and toning the muscles), restores posture and myo-fascial mobility and helps to improve breathing by focusing on diaphragm and lateral rib cage movement and position. A hypopressive or abdominal vacuum is often used while performing the technical poses and movements within Low Pressure Fitness creating reduced pressure throughout the abdomen and pelvic girdle. Imagine what an impact this has on conditions like pelvic floor dysfunction (urinary incontinence, pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic pain), on core weakness after having a baby or abdominal surgery, for those looking to improve their athletic performance or anyone wanting to improve aerobic capacity, improve metabolism or to trim their waistline.
What exactly is Low Pressure Fitness and Hypopressives? It is not as new of a concept as one would think. Hypopressives have been used in certain yoga practices for hundreds of years. During the 1980’s in Europe, Dr. Marcel Caufriez started researching the use of hypopressives for women to help improve pelvic floor dysfunction such as pelvic organ prolapse. By 2006, Dr. Tamara Rial and Dr. Piti Pinsach continued to expand on the research of Dr. Caufriez, developing a comprehensive workout, exercise and postural system built on the hypopressive techniques, and in 2014, Low Pressure Fitness was created. The goal was to create a whole body workout and routine easily accessible for the general public to help improve pelvic floor dysfunction and combat some of the negative effects traditional popular sports can cause. How come you haven’t heard of this yet? It started in Spain and quickly spread to Latin American countries. So if you You Tube LPF, many examples are in Spanish. In Spain it has become the preferred method of training postpartum moms. It is beginning to take root in North America, first in Canada and more recently in the US. With increased awareness, the prevalence of Pelvic Floor dysfunction (according to the NIH, 1in 3 women experience some form of pelvic floor dysfunction), and education availability more practitioners including Pelvic Health Physical Therapists are incorporating the techniques into their treatment plans. To become Low Pressure Fitness certified you need to complete all 3 levels of training as well as take a competency exam.
Hypopressives means reduced pressure. So let’s take an example of a crunch or sit up, when we perform these we are actually creating a HYPER-pressive environment in our core, increasing pressure that will effect our deep core structures and eventually that pressure over time can exacerbate already weakened structures. Pressure working toward the abdominal wall can create an abdominal hernia, pressure heading backwards toward the spine can cause increased disc pressure contributing to a herniated disc and finally pressure that travels through the pelvis can cause pelvic organ prolapse or pressure on the bladder causing urinary dysfunction or incontinence. Hyper-pressive situations occur all day long as we move, lift our children, pick up things and even go #2. With hypopressives, we reduce the pressure while improving spinal alignment to better adapt our bodies to handle daily pressures as we function.
My Story with Low Pressure Fitness and Inspiration for Elevate Core Health, LLC. It’s both personal and professional. I discovered LPF back in 2016. It was about 8 months after recovering from back to back surgeries: one to remove a uterine fibroid, the other ended in a total hysterectomy. I had anemia, neck and upper back pain (I returned to a very physical job only 3 weeks after my last surgery) and left with this sense of heaviness in my low belly and pelvis. I was nowhere near my previous fitness level (although surgeons tell you, you are healed and can return back to normal activity within 6 weeks after surgery). I went to a level 1 Low Pressure Fitness weekend class, and from that weekend my posture and breathing was transformed. My neck and spinal alignment was significantly better, I was breathing correctly and using my diaphragm, and that heaviness in my low belly was gone. From that moment I was addicted. I had never felt that fantastic after taking any exercise classes (yoga or pilates). I practiced, practiced and practiced, it was nearly 2 years later that I took level 2 and 3 privately with the founder Dr. Tamara Rial. I became a Low Pressure Fitness certified trainer in Oct 2018. Along the way....I taught all those that I could and incorporated the system into my treatment plans for many of my patients.
Professionally, I have been a Physical Therapist for 19 years, and have specialized in Pelvic Health Physical Therapy for the past 10 years. I am extremely passionate and dedicated to helping my patients over-come pelvic floor dysfunction. I believe in pelvic health services and want to change the world one pelvis at a time. Over the past 2 years I have been using LPF to help my patients recover after delivering their babies, essentially helping to Re-EDUCATE the core muscles and improve a Diastasis recti (abdominal muscle separation). It benefits my patients with pelvic organ prolapse (cystocele, rectocele, uterine prolapse), especially grade 1 and 2 that need to be on an exercise program that doesn’t worsen their symptoms. Patients that are recovering from abdominal type surgeries and need to strengthen their core. I also have been using it for pelvic pain patients: the breathing in LPF is very methodical and meditative, it helps to balance their nervous system and to combat some of the musculoskeletal changes that can arise with pelvic pain. The beauty of the system is that modifications can be made to address symptoms or any fitness level. So as you can see, the patients were my true inspiration for opening Elevate Core Health, LLC. I wanted to give them a place they could continue their practice of Low Pressure Fitness, where they could continue their self-care, EMPOWER each other to take control of their conditions, symptoms or diagnoses, where they could continue to move and exercise by having the camraderie of small group classes. I wanted everyone to feel as if they had the ability to ELEVATE and transform their health and wellness. I hope you enjoy Low Pressure Fitness as much as I do and I am truly grateful to be a part of your care and helping you to achieve your fitness goals. THANK YOU----Becky Keller, PT, PRPC, LPF-CT
